We are on the Road Again! We knew it was time for a road trip, when we received an invitation from Mark’s cousin Marcia Covert Chaves for her 80th birthday party on the East coast and decided to make a trip of it. Abigail agreed to come along as our third driver, so, on Thursday, June 6, we loaded the car, Abigail’s computer, all our electronic devices, and left Omaha, headed for Fredericksburg, Virginia. We pulled out of our driveway at 7:10 AM and motored over to Abby’s house to pick her up. She was standing in the driveway, knitting in hand, awaiting our arrival (she had dropped off her suitcase the night before for pre-loading.)
The weather was beautiful, and with Mark behind the wheel, Abigail in the front seat with her lap desk, inverter plugged in and her computer fired up, Deb in the rear navigator/gunner position, we were on our way. Abigail promptly logged into her office and began work - a whole new meaning to working from the road. As she worked on various payrolls from around the country, we listened to NPR’s Morning Edition, sipped our coffee and headed south toward Kansas City on I-29. From KCMO, we turned left on I-70 towards St. Louis. Our expected destination on this first day was Frankfort, Kentucky, approximately 675 miles from home. We were packed with a cooler full of soda and water, pre-made sandwiches of cheese, peanut butter, or Swiss cheese/ salami to choose from, and an entire snack bag of chips and crackers. We were prepared! This was our first lengthy trip (down and back to Lincoln, NE doesn’t count) in our new Toyota RAV 4 (color, “Glacial Ice”) and we were anxious to see how this Hybrid performed on the highway. Although we missed our previous Subaru Crosstrek, we quickly realized the benefits of a more commodious vehicle with even more electronic gadgetry to confuse and befuddle us.
Somewhere near Columbia, Missouri, we stopped at a McDonald’s for a burger, an ice cream cone, french fries and a bathroom break. We then dropped over to a gas station for refuelling and a driver switchover. Deb assumed piloting duties, and Mark repaired to the gunner’s chair to rest and read. Abigail continued in the co-pilot seat with commentary, in between emails to her office team members, clients, and attending to their payrolls. As the afternoon progressed, we sped through St. Louis and viewed the famous Gateway Arch (first time for Abby) as we crossed the Missouri, switched over from I-70 to I-64, and then the Mississippi, into Illinois. Next through Indiana, and then into Kentucky, winding our way through Louisville. Outside of Louisville, we stopped for another fuel break, and again switched pilots. this time Mark took back over the driving duties, Abigail, having logged off from work, moved to the gunner seat, and Deb switched into the co-pilots seat for navigator duties.
We arrived at our destination, The Best Western Inn in Frankfort around 7:30 PM, a little over 12 hours on the road. We were tired, a bit cranky, but all still alive and unmaimed, although we had to send a proof of life picture of Mark to Darcy! We had a glass of wine from our stash, finished off our sandwiches and fell into beds advertised as Queen Size but feeling suspiciously like double-bed size. No matter, we were tired and fell asleep with nary a sound of a TV.
Friday morning we were up, breakfasted at the morning breakfast bar, caffeinated, and reloaded for the road by 9:00 AM. We move onward to our final destination, with Mark in the pilot’s seat, Abigail again logged into work in the co-pilot’s seat and Deb in the rear gunner’s position (much to her chagrin). We passed through some wonderful horse country in Kentucky and then into the mountains of West Virginia. We remained on I-64, although at some point it became the West Virginia Turnpike, a Toll Road. As we pulled up to the first toll booth, Mark pulled out his trusty Visa card to hand to the cashier - “Sorry, no credit or debit cards - cash only!” A quick scramble for cash - $4.25 required - and we were on our way, with Mark grumbling for the next 150 miles and one more Toll Booth about “Who the HXXX doesn’t accept credit cards in this day and age? If they didn’t want to pay the credit card processing fee, just raise the price 25 cents!” (Deb’s note: Ad Nauseum is the word that comes to mind).
We finally crossed into Virginia and heading towards Charlottesville, still traveling on I-64. Reaching Charlottesville, we left the Interstate highway system and switched over to scenic small roads for the final run into Fredericksburg. Of course, there was the bickering amongst ourselves as to which route to follow, the one we thought we could see on the paper map, or the one our GPS was plotting for us. Abigail finally convinced the Bickersons in the front seat to “quit your bitchin’” and just follow the GPS, which turned out to be amazingly accurate, delivering us to our destination in Fredericksburg right at 6:30 PM. We checked into our hotel, drove to cousin Marcia’s house to visit with her and her daughter Sara, both of whom took a break from their party preparations to welcome us. After a short visit, we returned to our hotel, The Hampton Inn, ordered delivery from the Neighborhood Taco Bell, (Crunchwrap’s and Burritos) ate in our motel room with another glass of wine from our stash box, and retired for the night. Still billed as Queen-sized beds, these were slightly larger (not much) but seemed to do the trick. We had ravelled 1,255 miles from Omaha and were ready to rest for a bit.
Saturday morning - Party day. We slept in a bit, showered and cleaned a bit and got down to the breakfast room just before the 10:00 closing time and enjoyed a decent breakfast. We snagged a bagel and cream cheese to take back to the room as Abigail was last up and still luxuriating in the shower. After dressing, Deb and Abigail struck out for a couple of Yarn shops they had located while Mark stayed behind to read and relax. When the ladies returned, we rested for a bit, changed into our Party clothes after a bit of ironing to square away a blouse or two, and then off to the party at Belmont, the home of the late artist Gari Melcher. The estate is now an historical site and includes a lovely venue for weddings receptions and parties. Marcia, the guest of honour, was looking lovely as she greeted over 100 of her friends and relatives.
We visited with a lot of Mark’s relatives and friends from years past. Mark spent most every summer of his youth in the Fredericksburg area, attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and was enjoying seeing all these people although, luckily for name tags, he didn’t have to struggle too much to recognise some of the guests. Marcia’s late husband, Juan Chaves, was a roommate of Mark’s at UVA and Mark introduced the couple. A bit of Cupid mischievous that actually worked!
The party and photo taking stretched a bit past 4:00 PM. As this day is “knit in public” day, we stopped for a quick knit on a lovely bench. We returned to the hotel room, changed clothes and then journeyed back to Marcia’s house for a visit. We left there around 7:00 PM, saying our long Nebraska goodbyes, and then headed for dinner. We had researched the internet and double checked some of our choices with locals and finally chose the Paradise Diner. Great choice. We had a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir, accompanying a souvlakia sandwich, a crab cake sandwich, and turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes. The food was really good, especially after so many days of fast food.
We returned, to rest read and watch super-regional baseball before falling asleep at nearly 10:30 PM. We had a whirlwind trip and tomorrow we hit the road again, touring further south with a goal of Charleston SC. Our grandson, Adrian covert is stationed at Joint Base Charleston in the Air force and we are hoping to catch up with him for at least a meal. More driving coming up.
